A San Jose nonprofit is making a mighty pledge to end poverty in one of the city's poorest communities.
Amigos de Guadalupe is teaming with other area nonprofits to fulfill a pledge of ending poverty in the Mayfair community.
"We will end poverty in Mayfair," Amigos de Guadalupe founder Maritza Maldonado said. "We know we're in it for the long game. We're thinking 10 years. The needle will move."
The plan to move Mayfair out of poverty starts with small business development and ultimately with housing by helping renters and transitioning them into home-buying so they can start accruing wealth, Maldonado said.
The nonprofits are receiving support from Silicon Valley titans.
The Sobrato Family Philanthropies pitched in $6 million to the cause and will help host a poverty summit next year. Other powerful philanthropists at the summit will be challenged to invest in the dream of moving Mayfair out of poverty.
"We are blessed to have them in our valley, and their interest in justice," Maldonado said. "The values are our shared values."
Meanwhile, Maldonado knows the goal to get Mayfair out of poverty is a bold plan.
The median household income in Mayfair is just over $80,000, which is half the median in the county.
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"We have to be bold and audacious, and say, we put a stake in the ground, and it will change," Maldonado said.
